oookieee!!

if you're reading this, as my friend i am now requiring you to leave a post on my chatterbox!! hahahhaa. =p c'mon, i want to know if u were here or not - do it for me??

hehe. okay now that my very public plea is over, time to blog about two of the most fantastic places that i've ever seen in my life!!! first - NEW YORK!! hahahah. it was totally awesome!!! and it's probably the most productive 3 days of my life - ever. hahah. i'm so glad that mum and i decided to make the trip... yes it was short - but we saw soooo many things and literally shopped and walked til we wanted to drop. hahah. =) so first up here's some photos!


jammed up times square - such a buzzzz!


can you believe that's PEOPLE - HANDPAINTING from the scaffold? amazing!


hahaha. an official remnant of being in new york


dodgy pic of me - but proof i was there ;)


OMG! wall to wall with NBA jersey's. how jealous are you ker? keke ;)

hahaha. okay so when i say that new york was like 3 of my most productive days i really really mean it. when we got there we were picked up by one of my parent's family friends (he's a pastor of a couple of church congregations in long island).. so he brought us to his house and insisted that we stay with him instead. but for a few reasons - one, we couldn't cancel the hotel and two, long island is pretty far from manhattan island - we didn't stay there.. so we took the LIRR (long island rail road) into manhattan. the whole journey took us about an hour. oh we got to ride the subway too! OMG. it's soooooooooo loud!!! like you cannot possibly talk wen you're in the subway waiting for the trains - no wonder why everyone listens to their iPod!! hahahah. so yeah - once we got to the hotel and settled in, mum and i straight away dropped our bags and went exploring. our hotel was called "milford plaza" on the corner of 8th ave and 44th street. hahah this turned out to be such an awesome location!! it was literally a block from times square - which we innocently just happened to "stumble upon" because we walked in the "wrong" direction!! hahaha. oh! and it was in the broadway district too!!

so after exploring for a couple of hours and shopping heaps - we went for dinner at applebees - it was sooooo good =p then we started to walk back to our hotel to crash.. then as we were walking down broadway (yes it's an actual street) we were approached by these ticket agents for a hop-on-hop-off bus company. the sales guy was preeeety good! hahaha. we ended up buying a 2 day package which included a day downtown tour, uptown tour, night tour and a cruise! hahah. so yeah - we did the night tour then - we started it at like 9:15pm and finished at almost midnight... when we were dropped off in times square at the end.. even though it was like 12am i could've sworn it was still like 6 or 7!! the lights are just SOOOO bright and the streets were still PACKED with ppl!! it was absolutely unbelievable. hahah. from our hotel room window we could see times square - and really even at 3am there are still ppl walking arnd!! (don't ask me why i was up at 3am... hahah!) so yes.. by 1am we were back at our hotel - and boy did we crash!!

the next day we did the day downtown tour - it took us through chinatown and little italy and through soho (which stands for South Of Houston - which is prounounced HOWston, rather than HEWston). =p oh we also hit tribeca and brooklyn and the financial district - which included seeing ground zero. i tell you now, ground zero is HUGEEEEEE. like you realize that the building were like 110 stories and u remember it.. but you never really can imagine the intensity of 911 until you see just how big the site is... it was truly amazing. oh we saw the trump tower =p which really wasn't much.. hahah. and then we saw the rockefeller centre and the chrysler building - and oh oh oh - empire state too! on the cruise, we got to see the new jersey shorline esplanade front, and then of course ellis island and liberty island too hahah - hence the pic of the statute of liberty! to be honest... the nyc shoreline and city view really wasn't that great from the cruist - seatlle was still wayyyyyy better. but i merit that to the smoggy overhead clouds and *cough*pollution*cough*. haha =p. so that day was really really really fulfilling. by thursday wen we had to leave - we left extra early for long island to have breakfast with family friends... i was soooo knackered that i totally KOed on the train. hahah. breakfast at friendlys was tasty and cheap. =p that's always good. wahaha. and then we went all the way to stonybrook to see their other house - pity i didn't get to see Stonybrook uni... that would've been interesting.. so anyywayy! after we were at the airport (we went to the wrong terminal.. lol. did you know that the new york/america considers toronto/canada as domestic? how strange. lol =S) we boarded the plan on time at 5:30... but didn't take off on the runway until 7:30pm!!! we were delayed for a whole 2 hours.. sucked crap i tell you. it was sooooo boring and worse - i felt really really sick from the bad subway that i had for lunch - the stupid guy put vinegar on it wen i asked for ceasar. grr. sometimes i think that i ought to fake an american accent just to get what i ask for. loll!! so anywayy, we reached toronto finally and after a whole fiasco with canadian immigration (the lady forgot to stamp my passport - how dodgy), we got to the hotel by 10pm... mind u the flight was only 1 hour - so it was hella dodgy hey. but overall, the new york trip was one of a lifetime - and i'd definately go back again, altho i might choose i different hotel hahah.

okayyyy. then the second place - NIAGARA FALLS! omg. i kid you not - it's just like 5 times the royal show, just like all year round (okay maybe minus winter when it freezes over lol. =p). it's soooooo coool!! from the sky wheel, to maid of the mist, to really seeing up close the american falls and the horseshoe falls - it's just totally awesome. there's heaps of rides, and heaps of places to eat - and it's just bustling full with people!! it's soooooo goood. hahaha. i really did have flashbacks of the royal show - and it kinda made me sad coz i realized that i can't go this year. =( i miss the ranger!!! so annnywayy! niagara was just so beautiful. but expensive too =S lol. all the food is totally overpriced.. i can't imagine what accomodation would cost like there. lolll. =p oh. well we also got to go to a winery on the way in (some famous actor just bought it apparently) - and it was soooo goood. this comes as a suprize bcoz u know me - i'm not usually into wines (esp red wines)... but the tastings were suprizingly good! there was this one special wine which they call icewine - you guessed it, they make it from frozen grapes. it takes 12 cases of normal wine to make 1 case of icewine... that's one heck of a lot of grapes lol! but yeah - it's soooooooooo nice! like really really fruity, yet it's still got that nice wine taste. hahaha. =p i think i'm addicted - but only to the birchwood white vidal icewine hahah. i don't think i like the red. lol. but yeah that was a good experience too! we also saw the niagara whirlpool (which wasn't that fantastic) and then the floral clock (which was pretty uhm... boring? hahaha). so yeah...! overall niagara was just really fun - mum and i walked heaps and heaps going from store to store checking stuff out. hahah getting dumped on when on the maid of the mist was pretty funny too. no.. we didn't get too wet hahah. but that's coz i was heaps wussy and decided to stay on the lower deck hahah! okay here's some pics which capture only a tenth of the AMAZING view that we had that day... =)


the beautiful horseshoe falls - picture taken from the side of the road


me in the stupid maid of the mist poncho. wahaha. =p
mind you it was windy that day - so it really was a pain in the ass!


hahah. this is classic and just for you nardz. ;)


oooh. this is a downhill-ish view of what clifton ave was like...
just think times 10 or 20, and you've got the real intensity of niagara!


this is part of the american falls
(the smaller falls that you pass just before the massive horseshoe falls)
oh. see those yellow things?
they're actually people seeing niagara from the us side. =p


okay! so one last thing to post for one last special person... who i bet never comes here anyway. heheh. this was taken on sunday when i was walking through chinatown on spadina ave... just for you dwen. ;)


how appropriate is it that it's a veggie restaurant... lol!!
oh and yes dwen, i am duin my 5 and 2s. ;) are ya proud of me?


alrightey then!! woah. 2am. loll!! this was one heck of a long post - can you believe that i started it at like 8:30? hahahhahh. oh but i got side tracked to i guess that counts for something. lolll. annnywayyy, even tho i don't have classes tm, i'd better sleeep. =p

nitey nites!

luv lots,

pheebs.